The Actor's One & Only

Chapter 9

"What're ya even shavin? Ya hardly have a beard." she ridiculed, taken aback as he stormed in while she was taking her morning shower at the hotel and began to shave at the mirror. "Of course, I do. It..it comes an' goes, it does." he was quick to defend the presence of his precious facial hair to her. "What sorta magical beard is it?" she enquired, peeking out from the shower curtain, careful to cover her modesty with it as she did."Well...I dunno...use that writer's imagination o' yers an' come up with yer own backstory for it." he urged, scrunching his face up as he lathered it up with more shaving cream and ran the razor over his chin. "Why d'you insult me so? By calling me a writer, eh? I'm a has been, a failed wannabe novelist who can't even finish the one book she started writin back in high school." she complained, frowning at him for referring to her as a novelist as if it was a cuss word. "Helluva writer's block, but you'll get through it, Ruthy. I know ya will! Whatever did ya do with the unfinished manuscript?" Jack continued to enquire, pausing for a minute to wash the razor off in the clogged sink below. "I burnt it. Honestly, Jack, I wasn't goin anywhere with it, an' then dad's illness an' all, I just..." he heard her make excuses over the sound of running water. "Yer really talented, ya know? Who knows, if yer up for it, ya could even write me a script? I haven't any good ones comin my way, anyhow!" he suggested, insistent that she take up writing as a career. For some reason, his insistence irked her!

"Argh..Yer a terrible listener! An' ya gawk too much...! OI! My eyes are up ere, ya know?" she cried out, realising that he was checking her out, probably fantasizing about her again as his eyes scanned her naked form which was veiled by the translucent shower curtain which seperated them. "I wasn't lookin..." he was quick to jump to his own defence and look away.
"Golly! I pity the woman who ends up with ya!" a blushing Ruth teased, nodding her head in amusement, although she really enjoyed the attention. "I don't think you'd like it if I got married. You'd miss me. An' I'd miss my Ruthy!" he quipped with a toothy grin, flicking the wet razor at her in jest. She scowled as a wad of frothy shaving cream landed on her nose when he flicked it. "I wouldn't miss ya that much! Now, get outta ere. I've to change. Ya can finish trimmin yer non-existent beard later." she shooed him away, splashing him with water as payback. She heard him snigger as he left.
"These photos are terrible!" she criticized, as they walked down the street hand in hand after his big ad photoshoot. "They would've been better if ya hadn't interfered every now an' then while the photographer was trying to do his bloomin job! Imagine that, an amateur arguin with a professional..! " he recounted, rolling his eyes at Ruth as she thumbed through the photos which would appear in magazines and billboards all over- giving her friend his first taste of fame. "Well, he wasn't a very good one, ok? Did ya see the way he was holdin that camera? An' his lens wasn't very clean either! I was just pointin all that out when they threw me outta the studio, ya know?" she defended her actions to him, all of a sudden sounding like an expert on photography. "Look at that. They're all in black an' white...an' what in the world were ya wearin?!" she exclaimed in horror at his choice of clothing. "I'd no say in it. It's a denim company, kay? That's a jacket o' their own design. It was quite comfy, so I didn't mind." he explained. "Oh my god...Are ya nude in this one?!" she exclaimed like a giddy teen girl, pushing into his face a photo of him shirtless and slouched over with a sleepy, yet dreamy gaze fixed at the camera. "No..I think I'm wearin pants." he replied, pushing it out of his face. "What, like banana-print pajama bottoms?" she teased, cracking herself up as she resumed perusing, while he stuck his tongue out at her, not amused by her teasing. "An' who styled yer hair this way?! I'm glad ya put it back the way it was before." she wasn't done remarking, widening her eyes at the floppy hairstyle he sported in the photos. She also didn't like the amount of makeup that'd gone into hiding his gorgeous, natural freckles, but she decided it was best not to pick at that as well.
"It wasn't in my hands. Anyway, they paid me, so I can finally pay for my dry cleanin. Thankfully, my dry cleaner's the cheapest an' the best I could find!" he shrugged it off, changing the subject as they finally reached their destination- Kamal's great Indian dry cleaning. "What is it with ya an' cheap stuff?" she mocked as he held the door open for her in a gentlemanly manner. Of course, she didn't expect an answer from him. She understood what the struggling actor was going through and the reason behind him cutting costs.
"You'll like this place." she was however amazed to hear him praise a little dry cleaning shop. "Cuz...it's the best an' the cheapest dry cleaning shop in London...or cuz it's magical, like yer beard...?" she joked, wriggling her fingers when she said the word magical. "No, cuz it doubles up as a costume shop. Kamal, d'you think I can...?" he revealed, before asking for the owner's permission to check out the costume shop in the back. "Whatever, man! Just, no eatables in there...an' no hanky-panky with your girlfriend on the big pile of clothes back there either!" the absent minded Indian man at the counter replied, waving them off. "She's not my..." Jack began to correct, until he realised that Kamal had probably stopped listening a long time ago!
"Oh, wow! This is...it's..." Ruth sputtered, as her eyes adjusted to the change in scenery around her. Instead of piles of soiled clothes, she was now in a room filled with bright, posh and frilly clothing, Victorian dresses, Halloween costumes and everything in between! "Brilliant, right?! I used to come in ere to rehearse my lines, wearing the costumes so I'd be able to get into the skin o' the character better, ya know? There's a variety stocked in ere an' Kamal's kind enough to lemme experiment with all o' it, ya know?" Jack recounted, excited as a child high on sugar! "D'you think I could...?" she requested, perusing through the women's costumes. "Be my guest. Pick a costume, any costume." he urged. "Juliet? Nice pick!" he exclaimed, as she picked out a beautiful gown that looked like it'd been sourced from the marketplace of Verona itself! She wore it over her clothes along with a floral crown and twirled around him.
"Where fore art thou Romeo?" she quoted, peeking out from behind the rack of clothes at him. He'd put on a frilly shirt over his clothes, forgoing the tights but wielding a sword which came with the costume. He looked handsome all the same, like a modern day Romeo.He laughed, showing off his dimples as he did.
"Thine cleanin bill is due, Romeo. Be a lamb an' pay it, wontcha?" Kamal cut in, rolling his eyes at their childishness. "Yer in a hurry today, arentcha, mate?" Jack asked, patting the bored man on his back once he'd paid him for the dry cleaning. "Yup! It's somethin or the other purnima at my home an' the wife wants me to be home in time for the puja. I've gotta lock up the shop early today. Sorry for ruinin your fun, mate. Though, I must say, Juliet...ya could do so much better then this fella! C'mon home sometime an' my mum-in-law could set ya up with someone. She's quite the matchmaker, she is!" he replied, breaking into a rare smile for the pretty Ruth whom he invited over to his home. "No, thanks, Kamal. We're not a couple, by the way." she politely declined his invitation, making her relationship status known to him simultaneously. "Aye. We've to keep marchin on, eh, Ruthy? I've another audition an' I'm already runnin late for it! See ya, Kamal!" Jack decided it was time to bid farewell as he glanced at his wristwatch and noticed the time. "Cheerio, you two!" Kamal called out after them once they'd picked up the dry cleaning, returned his costumes and run out the door onto the busy streets of London once more.